. >>> this morning marks 24 days before the country goes over the fiscal cliff, where everyone's taxes automatically go up and deep spending cuts kick in. president obama is taking aim at republicans, accusing them of blocking a bill that would prevent tax rates from going up for the middle class. republicans are firing back, saying raising tax rates for anyone, including top earners, would jeopardize the economy. fiscal cliff negotiations are now in the hands of just two people, president obama and house speaker john boehner. abc's david kerley joins us live with the latest. david, we have a positive jobs report. better than expected. consumer confidence plummeted. a lot of people attributing that to the gridlock in washington. >> reporter: they're using the jobs report right now, the obama administration. a little more fuel. and we are talking about two men now. it comes down to these two guys and a lot of jobs on the line. possible hiring freezes, furloughs if we go over the cliff. federal agencies now working on reports for the white house, of the cuts they will make if we do actua